Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
In America, death threats.
Just a brief note before I dive into the final Harry Potter book myself, this comment from J.K. Rowling about the differences in culture and activism on the part of Christians here in the US and in the UK:
"I had one letter from a vicar in England -- this is the difference -- saying would I please not put Christmas trees at Hogwarts as it was clearly a pagan society. Meanwhile, I'm having death threats when I'm on tour in America."
Says a lot, doesn't it?
Jim Downey
(Via the Daily Dish.)
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A Christian's Reply
I am so disappointed by the behavior of some 'Christians'.
It's hard to believe that someone who claims to be my brother in Christ could be so irresponsible. True Christians-that is to say, Christians who still realize they still sin, most likely multiple times a day/hour/minute, and are imperfect-cannot possibly condone this type of action.
Personally, I have no interest in these books, but I haven't read them. Not so much as a paragraph. Nor have I seen any more of the movies than what is included in the theatrical trailers. Therefore, I have no business claiming they are evil.
I regret the fact that these over-the-top ‘fundies’, as someone called them, have become the Christian body that the United States has come to know. It’s no wonder Christians do (sometimes) come under attack/reproach, when the rest of the country feels threatened by morons who think they can do what they want in the name of God. If their god supports the kinds of actions they take-threats and the like-then they do not serve my God. And if they actually carry out these actions, then I feel they are no better than the 9/11 hijackers.
The sad (so sad) part is though that Americans have become so accustomed,--- or numbed I guess is a better word, to these self-absorbed, self-righteous ‘Christians’ that they have also become numb to the Christians who really just want to teach what we believe in a loving and peaceful manner.
No living man on Earth has a monopoly on Biblical knowledge or Godly wisdom. Some things, only God knows.
Thx for your time and ... bandwidth.
The stuff of sub-Christianity.
Anyone that would issue death threats in the Name of Jesus certainly hasn't read Him. It's ludicrous on its face. Such "followers" make it tough on His genuine disciples.
I do wonder a bit, though, how many of these threats she's received out of nearly a 1/3 billion Americans. Further, though I've no reason to disbelieve her, I wonder if there is 3rd party validation of these threats. Just a bit of skepticism to make Hank proud of me.
-Col.
over the top fundies
They make all christians look bad. They give christ and good christians a bad name.
Not independent validation...
...but *I* have received death threats from what I've written, Col. I don't take them too seriously, but it has happened. And while the percentages may well be low, it only takes one...
And be careful you do not stumble inadvertantly into "No True Scotsman" territory.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
I met one of those.
He was a christian rocker he said it was his duty to kill george bush. He was pretty serious and confused.
One sometimes wonders
...what Jesus some people think they're "serving".
Uh, I hate to appear stupid, but sometimes I just can't help it. I don't know what the True Scotsman thing is.
-Col.
Ya
clue me in on what that's about.
This link
Here is a link to a fair number of logical fallacies you'll here about in this type of forum. The scotsman fallacy is in about the middle of that list.
logical fallacies
they forgot atheism from their list.
Thanks, Rick:
I assumed it was something along those lines, but it didn't really fit. There isn't a paradigm Scotsman that all other Scotsmen say they adhere to. In the case of "Christians" making death threats, they have the very crystal clear injunctions from their own Leader of what a Christian is supposed to be. Homicide, if I recall correctly, was clearly outside the pale.
Having raised some teenagers, there have been times I wished the injunction could be suspended....
-Col.
I dont get it
Do American fundamentalist Christians feel their religion is under attack? Im from the Philippines which is about 95% nominal Christian (rough estimate) but we dont have that reaction. I attribute that to a feeling of security, that is, we dont feel threatened. I was wondering if these people who issue death threats to a writer of a fantasy children's book somehow feel they are.
I don't get it either
Jeg-
Good questions. I don't get it either. I think American fundies do think their religion is under attack. Do they feel threatened? Not sure, but you will hear them talk about a 'culture war'. Every December American fundies claim there is a War on Christmas. I like to mess with them by saying "only 5 more shopping days till holiday" or by pointing out that Jesus was most definitely not born on Dec. 25th. Seriously though, I really don't understand the christianist mindset. I regularly comment on another blog (right wing christians) and can't believe the nasty things they say. I have been condemned to hell many times, wished AIDS upon, called gay and even had my military record disrespected. Sorry Colonel and others, but American christians really are some of the most despicable people you could ever encounter.
As you are from the Phillippines, you should check out clips from the movie Jesus Camp on YouTube or you can Google the name Fred Phelps to get a glimpse at what American fundies are like.
I've been condemned to hell to.
All I did was ask for bible scriptures on a christian forum.
I said this
I've got my pickup truck loaded with rocks but I can't remember who god wants me to kill. Can you please tell me which scriptures in the bible tell me who I'm supposed to stone to death?
And they said I was going to hell
I said this
I've got my pickup truck loaded with rocks but I can't remember who god wants me to kill. Can you please tell me which scriptures in the bible tell me who I'm supposed to stone to death?
And they said I was going to hell
Phelps
I just googled Fred Phelps and WHOA!! And one of his sites called God Hates America, welcomes visitors with the joyous message that says, Tammy Faye is in Hell, Praise God!!
'Sick' doesnt even cover it.
Hahaha
That's great.
A tenet of Christianity
I will bet that there are only death threats from so-called "christians" - none from Jews, Muslims, and other religions that are able to separate fantasy and fiction from reality. The history of Christianity is all about "they don't agree with us, let's kill them" - this is just another sorry example of the American extremism of a religion that claims to follow a guide who preached love and tolerance, but has never accepted or internalized that lesson.
It also goes to show the very strong differences in cultural personality between the two countries. For a country ostensibly built on religious tolerance, the USA is becoming scarily intolerant as it ages.
america built on religious tolerance?
We came over here and killed and christianized the inhabitants. Then we burnt all our own people that wern't christian. Where's the tolerance?
ML, thre are Muslims that
ML, thre are Muslims that will send death threats. What about the ruckus over Salman Rushdie. And the riots over the Danish cartoons. Tis not just a christian thing.
Fantasy and Fiction v. Insults and Blasphemy
The difference between Harry Potter and the examples you are citing, Anonymous, is that nobody is claiming that HP insults Christianity, which IIRC was the basis of the fatwa against Rushdie and the furor over the cartoons. The Muslims went up in arms (somewhat literally) because their religion was insulted. Did you see the recent furor over the painting of Homer Simpson in the UK, near a pagan fertility god's image? Similar, but without the violence, just protests and threats of rain invocations (something I am sure the UK does not need right now!).
The people who are threatening Rowling are undone because they believe her books are advocating paganism and other non-Christian activities. So they are advocating murder - which last I checked was not something of which Jesus Christ approved, but appears to be a longstanding policy that Christians impose against those who do not believe as they do.
Just curious
Don't Jews make the claim at least in part that the land of Israel belongs to them because God gave it to them?
Doesn't Islam teach that if you die fighting for the greater glory of Islam you get perpetual virgins in the afterlife (at least if you are a male)?
I am not sure I'd hold up either of those religions as particularly adherent to reality. The irony of this whole thing is that Christmas trees are a pagan symbol, or at least they were originally.
jews muslims christians
They are all the same. The only difference is some say
A) the messiah hasn't come yet
B) the messiah came once
C) the messiah came twice
I'd have to say
In the case of islam the messiah's refractory period is pretty long. I suppose that's better than the Jews. Azure spheres anyone?
Thameron, that's a different
Thameron, that's a different aspect. I haven't seen a lot of Jews and Muslims saying that Rowling needs to be punished for writing her book. And see above my response to Anonymous about the Muslim actions as compared to the Christian threats.
The issue to me is that Christians are threatening someone's life BECAUSE SHE WROTE A BOOK. And it is NOT a book advocating violence, it is not a book saying that religions are bad - it's a fictional story that happens to involve magic. Big furry deal. Nobody is going to be insulted by reading those books unless they want to be.
And yeah, the bit about Christmas trees is hysterical. I have long believed that many of the loudest so-called Christians are actually fairly ignorant about their religion and religious practices. Unfortunately knowledge is not a prerequisite for authorship.
jews and muslims
Part of the reason christians are so bad here is because their are so many they are drunk on their own power. They can bully other faiths because they are the majority. If you were an ateist/pagan/what ever in some other countries you might encounter the same difficulties from the dominant religion. Thats why people fight so hard for seperation of church and state. So you don't get lynched for being pagan or atheist.
more evidence of Christian extremism
Yes, it certainly does say a great deal. This is more evidence that we in America have an infestation of Christian extremists. What's worse, a number of recent stories suggest increasing tendencies toward violence.
If something happened to JK Rowling here,
If anyone in this country harms JK Rowling, I'd be so ashamed of our country. This is a small piece of the same idiocy as the death threat against Salmon Rushdie.
ashamed of you country?
one death would make you ashamed of you country? What about the thousands of people our country is directly responsible for killing in iraq?
Why is it the death threats
Why is it the death threats thing doesn't surprise me?
However, I found this really ironic
saying would I please not put Christmas trees at Hogwarts as it was clearly a pagan society
Considering this bit o' info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tree
I guess you find them everywhere. The pompous religious blowhards whose beliefs must be coddled, even though they don't even bother getting their facts straight.